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Perfect Rib Eye Roast

People are often nervous about roasting an expensive Rib Eye Roast. Although I’ve roasted many beef roasts, I admit that I always research different ways to do it every time. Even though it’s actually very easy.

This time I settled on the method from “CAREBEARCOOKING” on food.com. My 5.6 pound Choice Rib Eye Roast was approximately the same size as the one in the recipe (5 pounds). The only change I made was to cut the kosher salt in half. The original recipe called for ½ cup of kosher salt; I used ¼ cup and it was plenty.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, just follow the timing for this recipe and your roast should turn out fine. This recipe for Perfect Rib Eye Roast is very simple, but it makes a fabulous special meal for family and friends.

Update 11/27/2015: I roasted a 5.86 pound rib roast yesterday and it was absolutely perfect. Using the Maverick Redi-Chek thermometer that Byron gave me made it super easy to know exactly when to remove the roast from the oven. (Thanks, Byron, for the great gift!) My goal was to pull it out of the oven when the temperature reached 120˚. After the 15 minutes at 500˚, it took another 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish roasting. It took 18 minutes per pound. (18 x 5.86 = 105.48 minutes, or 1 hour and 45 minutes.) So I’m happy to confirm – if you don’t have a reliable meat thermometer, just do the math to figure out the timing for your roast and you should have good results.

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Update 12/22/2017 – Timing for roasting a larger roast:

This week I roasted a 10.75 pound (4 – rib) roast and thought it would take a bit longer than a 5 – 6 pound roast. I kept a close eye on the Maverick Redi-Chek thermometer and took it out as soon as it reached 120 degrees. It took 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to 120° after initial 15 minutes at 500°. So it was a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes in the oven. After about a 30 minute rest, it was beautifully rare. That works out to be about 14 minutes per pound for the larger roast.

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Perfect Rib Eye Roast

(Adapted from a recipe from CAREBEARCOOKING on food.com)

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A Rib Eye Roast is the same cut as a “Prime Rib Roast”; it is simply a Choice grade of meat instead of a Prime grade. It’s much less expensive than Prime beef, and it is what you’ll find at most markets.

The original recipe called for kosher salt which is what I use. For best results I recommend kosher salt. If you use table salt (Morton’s Iodized Salt, for example) cut the amount of salt at least in half.

4. Place the meat, bone side down, in a shallow roasting pan. (I found that my 12-inch cast iron skillet was a perfect fit.)

5. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan.

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6. Rub the roast all over with the salt and garlic. Generously grind pepper over it.

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7. Roast the meat for 15 minutes.

8. Do not open the oven, but after 15 minutes turn the oven temperature down to 325˚.

9. Continue to roast at 325˚for about 20 minutes per pound. (1 hour and 52 minutes for my 5.6 pound roast). This timing should produce a roast that’s Medium-Rare to Medium.

Update 12/24/12: If you like your roast a bit more on the rare side, roast it for 18 minutes per pound.

Update 12/27/2013: If you have a meat thermometer, start checking the roast 15 minutesat least 30 minutes before you think it will be done. Continue roasting until it is done to your liking. If the roast has reached 95˚, the temperature will go up 8 – 10 degrees for each additional 10 minutes in the oven. (Tip from Molly Stevens in All About Roasting)

Update 12/22/2017: For a 10 – 11 pound roast, roast it at 325˚ for about 14 minutes per pound after the initial 15 minutes at 500˚.

Rare: 125 – 130˚ (Take the roast out of the oven when the temperature reaches 120˚. The temperature will continue to rise a bit as it rests.)

Medium: 135 – 140˚ (Take the roast out of the oven when the temperature reaches 130˚. The temperature will continue to rise a bit as it rests.)

Related

Yep, I’m one of those scared to death of ruining an expensive piece of meat! My fail-safe option for our Christmas dinner (last weekend) took a lot of work and time, but it was worth it. I brined a pork loin, butterflied it, pounded it, stuffed it, rolled it and roasted it. Perfect! Maybe I’ll be brave enough (and rich enough!) to try a rib eye next year.

I just saw this recipe and will try it. I am going to add the dijon mustard and worcestershire. I also put fresh garlic and garlic salt. Is it ok to prepare 1 day before cooking it? I am hoping this turns out good! Having it tomorrow on xmas day.

So simple yet so intimidating! I wonder why…I’m going to be brave and try this. It sounds like it was perfect. Thank you for sharing…we’re getting ready to go to Colorado, and I’m glad I got a chance to stop by before we depart. Happy holidays and many blessings!

My father and I saw ribeye roasts on sale the other day at the super-market thinking it would be good for Christmas dinner. Boy were we right!!! We actually dropped ball a bit and forgot to look up a recipe. We realized this this morning. So I looked for a simple recipe of things we had in the house. I can tell you as a matter of fact that I’m glad we forgot to look up a recipe, because If we did I think we would have over thought it and missed out on this gem. This simple recipe yielded one of the bests roasts I’ve had. The amount of salt, garlic, and pepper was perfect, it produced a great crust on the outside and gave wonderful flavor, but still allowed to flavor of the meat to shine through and be the real star.

I definitely would have a thermometer when doing this roast!! overcooking a piece of expensive meat is … well –expensive!!! definitely wouldn’t suggest well done. really nothing more than 140 degrees in the center! Hope it didn’t ruin the evening!?

I too did not have all the ingredients in several of the reciepes I looked up online. I ended up putting 1/3 of a cup of water in a pan and rubbing the roast with the contents of a packet of Lipton onion soup. 500 degrees for 15 minutes, dropped to 325 for 1.5 hours, Started checking temp with meat thermometer until it reached 120. let sit for 20 minutes and had a close to perfect med rare roast.

Thanks for posting your method Dan. I don’t have all the ingredients either. But I do have the onion soup mix. It’s Christmas morning and I have a 5 lb ribeye roast just waiting to be flavored and roasted. I’m going with your method. Also Thanks Kathy for your recipe. I’ll try not to wait for Christmas day next time to inventory my ingredients. Happy Holidays!!

I marinate a day before, with garlic, seasalt,ground pepper, dijon mustard spread all around the roast & worcestershire sauce. It comes out so good, you don’t need to make gravy….
My grandmother & mother’s recipee….

I make a rib roast for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year! every time I combine fresh garlic, salt, pepper and butter I a dish. crushing the garlic and pepper into the butter. rub it on my roast and let it sit. before the oven I poke holes in the top so that the juices can flow into the meat. absolutely love the flavor! never disappoints!

I’m really glad I found this recipe, it sounds simple and I love garlic! This will be my first rib eye roast (making it tonight) and prime rib being my favorite beef, I admit I’ve been a little intimidated to try it until now. My cousin makes one every year for Christmas and while it’s good, I think mine will turn out better with this recipe 😉

Hi Susanne! A boneless Rib Eye roast should work fine. You should probably put the roast on a meat rack, since you’re not using the roast’s bones as a “rack”. If you don’t have a rack, though, it’s probably not essential.

This recipe is so easy and WONDERFUL!!! Ive used Paula Dean’s recipe before which is almost the same but calls for you to leave the rib roast on at 500 alittle longer and then turn the oven off and don’t open it for about 4hrs for the roast I had. This recipe had my rib roast cooked to perfection in half that time and was just as GREAT without the wait! I love it!!

To be honest, Wendy, I think this recipe works best with a roast that’s at least 4.5 – 5 pounds. I did some quick research and found J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s “low and slow” method. Reading through all of the comments, one person (“Kitchenista”) said she successfully roasted a 3-lb roast with his method. She said it was “medium-medium rare” after 2 hours and 10 minutes. That sounds more well-done than I like, so I’d be checking at 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. She did the 500 degree blast after the rest for just 6 minutes.

If I had three 2.8 – 3 pound roasts, I would try Kenji’s method, cooking them for a shorter period of time. Good luck!

it turned out great! I might just cook it a little less, as we prefer rare to medium rare, but boy was it a hit! I also, made bearnaise to go with it and that was the perfect accompaniment! 😉 I look forward to more recipes from you!

I would use the same method, Sharen. After the initial 15-minute roast at 500 degrees, I’d turn the temperature down to 325 degrees and roast it for about 18 16 minutes per pound. I’d start checking it with a meat thermometer after about 2 hours at the lower temperature.

I see you changed the temperature for final temperatures of rare, medium and well-done. So is the new temp the one we want just before taking the roast out of the oven? And it will heat up another 10 degrees while resting on the counter? I just want to make sure I’m cooking my little 3 lber to the right temp. Thanks!

Yes, I did change it, Angie. The new temperatures, from my research, seem to be more accurate. They are the temperatures for when to take the roast out of the oven. The temperature will go up during the resting time.

Perfect. Thank you! It was funny because just before returning to your site yesterday I was telling my husband that I had checked 3 different sources the day before and that I wasn’t sure about the temperature, and then I opened your site and you had changed yours! I can’t wait to eat our roast!

I made this last night and it was wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. My Christmas Eve roast came out wonderfully. My guests went for seconds and sometimes thirds! Wow! That is a compliment in itself!!

Great recipe! The only thing I would add is use a digital thermometer, I ruined a prime rib once waiting for the old analog therometer to get the core temp correct.

With a digital one the temperature is accurate and instant, considering a person might spend 70.00 or more dollars for a roast the ten dollar investment in a digital therometer is good insurance for a perfect roast, blessings Bill.

John, do you mean do I trim the fat? The store where I buy my roasts trims them well, so I don’t feel I need to trim it at all.The butchers there also remove the chine bone and then retie it back on the roast. It makes carving easier.

Mine is cooking right now. I’m using an armatele roasting dish. WOW! The smell is amazing! Loved to know temps for rare, med rare, etc. got my thermometer all ready to go and will check for 130 then rest out of oven… Double baked potatoes going in while resting. Green beans done. Traditional chocolate ice box cake for desert. This is our traditional Christmas meal.

Wow, Angie! I have never seen that label on meat. I had to “google” it to find out what it means. It turns out that a lot of beef in the US (and Canada?) is mechanically blade tenderized. The meat is poked with needles to tenderize it. The problem? If there are pathogens on the surface of the meat that would be killed when cooked, they can be pushed into the center of the beef where they would not be killed if the interior temperature doesn’t reach 160 degree.

At this time labels are not required, so I have probably unwittingly eaten blade tenderized beef.

Great simple recipe, perfect Christmas dinner. Wonderful salty crust, meat was cooked perfectly thanks for the additional tips on the time. Make sure to have a meat thermometer handy and check it kind of early. Let the meat come to room temperature and let it sit after removing it from oven you will have a delicious feast.

This was a great recipe — except too salty … but that could be because I used sea salt instead of kosher salt. Next year I will use Kosher salt and use less than 1/4 cup. BUT, the saltiness aside … the roast was done to perfection! If you can, invest in a thermometer that lets you know what the temperature is without having to open the oven. Best investment I ever made three years ago.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of salt; imagine how salty that would have been! Because Kosher salt has a coarser grain than table salt or most sea salts, it is lower in sodium by volume. You would probably want to use 2 tablespoons of a fine-grained sea salt.

I have made rib eye roast twice before this year; neither recipe was good, a financial and culinary disappointment. But I thought I would give eye roast one more try and found your recipe. Perfection! I followed the recipe exactly (reducing the ingredient proportionally for my 3.8 lb. roast) and wanting it rare took it out at just 125 degrees. It was Beautiful — pink/red, flavorful, melt-in-your mouth. Thank you. I have found my eye roast recipe at last!

Thanks for this recipe! Looks simple yet very delicious! Question for you…. It looks like you tied the roast. If you didn’t have kitchen twine- is it ok to leave the roast untied? I am only roasting a 3.5 lbs roast….

Didn’t get to make it last night as my boys really wanted pizza lol! But made this tonight and it turned out great thanks so much for the recipe. I wish I was better at and liked to cook more that I am/do. My family love it 🙂

I think it should work fine, John, but it may take less time because a New York strip roast is not usually as thick as a rib roast. After the initial high heat roast and you have turned the oven temperature down, I’d check the temperature after about 40 or 45 more minutes.

well mine is in the oven as I type. I have made many prime Rib Roast for many different holidays. But I’m never happy with the results. So I was happy to find this recipe this search. At this time I’m excited that maybe just maybe have found the answer. I have reseached many recipes and tried many of them to my family holidays means prime rib for dinner. when preping for the roast I used onion and garlic powder and salt then cracked black pepper.

I just did it, bought a 3.95 pound piece of ultra expensive Prime Rib Eye, with two bones… salt and pepper, brought the oven to 500 and place it inside bone side down for 13 minutes, then 18 minutes per pound… boy o boy is HEB expensive… 68 dollars for 4 pounds of beef…

Would suggest using a lot less salt after following this recipe…way too salty, even for someone who really likes salt! Cooked it in a well seasoned cast iron frying pan…it looked perfect. Next time I will use 1 tablespoon of salt at the most….

I did use Kosher salt. In retrospect, I think the issue had to do more with the size my roast (3.0) rather than the amount your recipe call for. I should have used a scant 1/8 cup. My error and I apoligise for my original post. I am planning to try again for our New Years dinner. The texture was perfect and the arouma was devine.

Made it tonight for the first time. 3.7 pound rib eye roast. Scaled down the ingredients. Pulled the roast out at 120 degrees. It was wonderful. Served it with some garlic mashed potatoes and oven roasted asparagus. Thanks so much!

I asked the butcher for the wrong cut. I was going to make an Eye of Round – but that isn’t what came out of my mouth! Now my cooking is sort of hit or miss, so I scoured the web for a good Rib Eye recipe and found yours!
It was a 4.5 lb roast and I left it out 2 hours but I get worried about bacteria so popped it in at 500 degrees even though it was still cool to the touch.
Followed your directions to a ‘”T” except…even after cutting the kosher salt down to about half, with the appropriate amount of garlic, the rub seemed a little much so I didn’t use it all.
It only took about 5 minutes longer than estimated to be what my husband called a perfect “medium” but you can be sure we had a thermometer handy!
You saved my life.
Next time I’ll bump the garlic back up. It was powder, might try a little of both fresh and powder. And I thought it was kosher salt that came with my salt n pepper mills, but will purchase genuine kosher for next time. Is all that salt also to help seal the outside of the roast?

I’m glad it worked for you, Dawn! I don’t know the science behind the salt, but I do know that most chefs like to generously salt roasts, and steaks, too, for that matter. It does give beef a well-seasoned crust.

Today I bought my first ribeye roast. A six pound bone in roast that I was looking forward to trying my own technique on. I looked up on the web like this site and found that others were saying to just add salt and peper. Well let me tell you, I’m glad I didn’t listen. I went and created an amazing rub that made the best ribeye I ever had. Follow my recipe and you won’t be disappointed.
Paprika

Like many, I am nervous about cooking this 6.25# roast because it’s so expensive. I figured what the heck, I might as well run with it and there seems to be much success in the past. I am sure it will be fine, wish me luck. Any thoughts or changes since I will be using a convection oven?

A quick Internet search took me to this site ( http://www.convection-calculator.com/ ) that has a conversion calculator. I might try starting the roast at 500 degrees for 15 minutes and then use the calculator to convert it for the convection oven for the rest of the roasting time.

The conversion was 480 degrees for 11 min and 1 hour 33 minutes at 305 degrees vs. the 500 degrees for 15 min and 2 hours and 5 min. So as you can see there is quite a difference, glad I asked 🙂 and thanks for the tip!!!!

Made this for Christmas dinner. I had a 2.75 roast so I cut the kosher salt in half. Still was a bit too salty on the outside pieces that were in direct contact with the salt. Placed roast on a rack in a shallow pan. Forgot to cook on the bone side, so it was cooked on meat side. Nevertheless, it was delicious! What an easy recipe and simple way to cook a great piece of meat. Don’t get to feast on an expensive piece of meat often, but I will never be afraid of cooking a ribeye roast again. Thank you and Happy Holidays, Kath Dedon!

Molly Stevens points out in her recipe for rib roast (in her book, All About Roasting) that a very large roast should be taken out of the oven sooner than a smaller one. The reason is that a large roast’s temperature will rise more when it’s resting. She suggests the following temps for a large roast:

Rare: 110 – 115
Medium Rare: 120
Medium: 125

Check the roast at least 30 – 45 minutes before you think it will be done. If it is not at the desired temperature continue to roast. She says once it has reached 95 degrees, the temperature will go up 8 – 10 degrees for every additional 10 minutes of roasting time.

Hi There, I bought my first bone-in rib-eye roast for my families New Year meal and in searching for recipes, stumbled on to this blog. Thank you for sharing … the pictures, step by step procedure…all very good, and very helpful for novice cooks. The roast was delicious and perfect! Happy New Year!
Tammy

Hi Susan,
It’s best to use a meat rack for a boneless roast. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one. I recently got a small one that cost less than $6.

Give the roast the initial 15-minutes at 500 degrees, then turn the temperature down to 325. I would try roasting it for an additional 16 minutes per pound. For a 3-pound roast, that would be an additional 48 minutes, but I’d start checking it after 30 minutes.

I have never used a convection oven, Jackie. On Dec. 22 (2013) John Nabor asked the same question. He came up with this for his 6.25 pound roast:
“The conversion was 480 degrees for 11 min and 1 hour 33 minutes at 305 degrees vs. the 500 degrees for 15 min and 2 hours and 5 min.”
He found this site useful for making the conversion: http://www.convection-calculator.com/

Trying out rib eye roast for company spring pot luck tomorrow. No salt/pepper. Marinated roast in worsteshire sauce for 2hours, enclosed in a bag, and seasoned with just Safeway Mediterranean Roast Rub 30 min before I put in oven.

I learned this trick by accident. Rub the roast with the rub you enjoy, wrap it in cellophane and put it in the frig for a couple days, then unwrap it and place on a backing sheet with a rack. Cover with cheese cloth and let it sit for a couple more days (this is basically dry curing the roast). I then cooked it using a recipe similar to yours. The flavors were deep and rich. I will do this again. There is nothing better than a great cut of meat enhanced by dry curing. I am always open to experimenting so any pointers or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Michael

First time ribeye roaster here! I made this for Easter as ‘second fiddle’ to a spiral cut ham. Hands down put the ham to shame… (grin) My bone-in roast weighed 5.13 lbs; I went with the initial 15 minutes at 500 (the roast sat at room temp for 2 hours) then 325 for 1 hour and 40 minutes. I let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. It was medium-rare throughout — I’m a well-done fan personally, but the rest of table went back for seconds (and thirds!) The rub is extremely flavorful but not overly salty. I used 6 cloves of minced garlic, the recommended amount of Kosher salt, and 2 tbsp. of tricolor peppercorns, crushed. Definitely a keeper! Thank you very much for sharing your recipe and technique.

I used this recipe for Father’s Day dinner last night. Absolutely wonderful!!! It is the classic recipe with the garlic salt cap everyone loves. This will be my go to recipe from now on. Everyone at dinner made yummy sounds throughout the meal.
I’ve tried many other recipes for prime over the years and this one has them all beat.
The only change I made was to lightly rub the entire roast with olive oil before I added the garlic and salt paste all over.

I’m so glad that you and your family liked it, Janice! I actually thought about making it for Father’s Day, but chose to make Oven Barbecued Country-Style Ribs instead since Bob had been begging for pork ribs lately. 😉

Great recipe, thank you for posting. I’ve used this method 5-6 times now and we love it! The first couple of times resulted in a slightly less cooked (more rare) result than we were after — rather, than my wife was after 😉 but I found that it was due to me not allowing the meat to come to room temp prior to cooking. Now I leave it out at least an hour prior to cooking and it makes a big difference. Making this again tonight. Thanks again!

We followed this recipe and thought it was great! I made my own rub of softened butter, fresh garlic,fresh rosemary, salt, course ground pepper, spike all seasoning,grey poupon worcstershire and olive oil. we will see how it turns out it smells wonderful! Great way to end the year!

I’ve never used a convection oven so I’m not sure. You could just use bake. Or you could try this site to convert the time to a convection oven. http://www.convection-calculator.com/ It’s a KitchenAid site, so it’s probably reliable.

Wonderfull recipe and very simple. Just two clarifications. Prime Rib Roast and Rib Eye Roast are two different cuts of meat. The prime does not refer to the choice/prime rank of meat but the i believe the first six ribs. Other than that i do not believe it makes a vast difference. Also an oven thermometer works wonders to achieve proper temperatures for anyone that mighty have an outdated oven.

I’ve cooked for forty years but have always been intimidated to buy and ruin a rib eye roast. Luckily, I found one that was marked down because whoever ordered it didn’t pick it up. So, I snatched that bad boy up and brought it home. It’s small (3.88 lbs.) but it’s just for my husband and me. I love the fact that you included exact measurements for seasonings, and updated from time to time. The only thing I’m doing different is adding a 1/4 cup of olive oil to the salt and garlic before rubbing it down. I cannot wait to make this! As someone else said, many times when looking for “the perfect recipe” you overcompensate because it’s an expensive piece of meat and feel the need to “fancy’ it up, when less is more, as you explained. Thanks!

I have never roasted a 12 pound rib roast, but I would use basically the same method. Molly Stevens, in All About Roasting has a recipe for a 10 – 12 pound roast. She does it pretty much the same way. She removes the roast from the refrigerator 3 hours before roasting, seasons it, and starts it in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. She then lowers the temperature to 325 and continues to roast for an hour and a half. Then she starts checking the temperature. She says a larger roast’s temperature will rise more when it’s resting than a smaller roast. It would rise 10 – 15 degrees. She suggests to remove the roast from the oven when it reaches 110 – 115 degrees for rare, and 120 for medium rare. If the roast hasn’t reached the desired temperature when you first check it, wait another 10 – 15 minutes before checking again.

This recipe was great! Found a choice rib eye roast a few days before Easter at HEB, for about $7 / lb. Never cooked one before. Turned out super! Although crust was a little salty because, while I used the whole amount of salt, our bone-in roast was only 2.5 lbs. Five of us here and we all loved it. Best beef recipe in my arsenal, and top 1st or 2nd recipe overall, period. And I am in TX where we love our smokers and I also have an IR grill.

Problem then became finding another choice rib eye roast at HEB. Seems like it was only an Easter thing (they do have the prime rib roast on sale for $16 / lb). So tonight I asked at the butcher counter at HEB, and they do have them! They just don’t normally display them, at least at my store. $7.99 / lb. The guy went in the back and brought back a cryovac bag, unopened. So he slit it open and cut me off 2.5 lbs of the freshest choice rib roast available to me. This is Friday evening, and we will be having your recipe again on Sunday. Cheers!

Thank you for your recipe. Our 6.2 lb rib eye roast turned out perfectly delicious according to my husband. He has been wanting to eat a rib eye steak, but due to problems with his teeth he has been unable to. I bought the rib eye roast hoping that it would satisfy his craving for steak. It worked. He says it’s tender enough for him to eat. I was concerned about the cost as I tend to overcook beef roasts. Thanks to your recipe it turned out great.

This was easy and amazing. My husbands father made this every Christmas before he passed away a few years ago and I decided to surprise him this year. Needless to say I was nervous and didn’t want to mess it up. His dad was a great cook, so big shoes to fill. It turned out wonderful and he loved it. Thanks for sharing.

I have never tried roasting two roasts, Gina, but I’m sure it can be done. This is what I would try: After they have roasted at 500 degrees for 15 minutes, I would turn the temperature down to 325 degrees and set a timer for the smaller roast. (5 pounds at 18 minutes per pound = 90 minutes.) When the timer goes off, use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the roasts. Assuming the smaller one is done, take it out and continue to roast the 6 pound roast for another 18 minutes if it’s not quite done.